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assessments need to be cleared by the Labour andWelfare Bureau
which is responsible for servicing the commission.
The Government has also been proactively promoting
gender mainstreaming in the non-governmental sector. As
announced by the Chief Executive of the HKSAR in January
2016, the Government has launched a pilot scheme in encour-
aging non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the social
welfare sector to refer to the checklist and apply gender main-
streaming when formulating their policies and programmes.
This pilot scheme is now running smoothly.
To enhance Government officers’ understanding and aware-
ness of gender-related issues and to facilitate their application
of gender mainstreaming in their daily work, the Government
and the commission have provided various types of training
to officers at different disciplines and ranks. These include
across-the-board gender-related training, tailor-made training
programmes to suit specific departments’ operational needs,
establishment of a web portal on gender mainstreaming as a
resource and experience-sharing platform, launching of an
online training programme on gender awareness to enable
officers to receive training in a flexible manner. Since 2001, a
total of about 10,000 officers from various disciplines and ranks
have received gender-related training. The commission has also
published its ‘Gender Mainstreaming Guidebook’ and has been
organizing gender mainstreaming seminars from time to time.
In 2003, a network of gender focal points (GFPs) was estab-
lished in Government bureaux and departments. Under the
GFP mechanism, a directorate or senior officer from each
Government bureau and department is appointed to serve as
the contact/resource person to assist in raising awareness and
understanding of gender-related issues and promote gender
mainstreaming initiatives in their respective areas. At present,
there are some 80 GFPs in the Government network.
In 2008, the commission established another GFP network
in the 18 district councils of the HKSAR to promote gender
mainstreaming at district level, and to enhance collabo-
ration between the commission and district councils on
gender issues. In 2016, the Government established another
GFP network for NGOs in the social welfare sector. So far,
this NGO network has enrolled more than 110 GFPs. The
Government will, in the light of the operating experiences of
this NGO network, explore the possibility of further expand-
ing the GFP network in the non-governmental sector.
The HKSAR is an international business and financial
centre. Hong Kong now has a population of more than
7 million, with slightly more than half of them being female.
Men and women have equal rights of access to 12 years of free
education and equal employment opportunities as protected
by the local laws. Females now account for more than half of
our student enrolments in the undergraduate programmes as
well as over 60 per cent of the students in taught postgraduate
programmes. Among senior management positions in private
business, more than 30 per cent are held by women. These
facts and figures reaffirms the commission’s firmly-held belief
that there is no lack of women with talent, ability and enthusi-
asm who are willing to serve on the wide range of Government
advisory and statutory bodies (ASBs) to provide advice on the
development and public affairs of Hong Kong.
Back in 2004, the commission advised, and the Government
accepted, that there should be a gender benchmark for
appointing women as non-official members of ASBs, and the
first gender benchmark of 25 per cent was then adopted as a
working target for all Government bureaux and departments
to follow. By the end of 2009, the overall ratio of female
non-official members among ASBs (gender ratio) was 27.3
per cent. On the advice of the commission, the Government
increased, in 2010, the gender benchmark from 25 per cent to
30 per cent, and a gender ratio of 32.3 per cent was achieved
in April 2014. The commission then recommended that the
gender benchmark be further increased to 35 per cent. The
Chief Executive of the HKSAR announced in his 2015 Policy
Address that he accepted the commission’s recommendation.
The commission believes that women should be able to
build capacities for self-reliance, make informed decisions and
realize their full potential so as to promote women’s well-
being. The commission is particularly keen to meet women’s
needs and interest in continuing education, and it pioneered,
in March 2014, its signature Capacity Building Mileage
Over 150 participants attended the Seminar on Gender Mainstreaming in
December 2015
The Graduation Ceremony of the Capacity Building Mileage Programme is
conducted every year to present certificates to graduates
Image: Women’s Commission of Hong Kong
Image: Capacity Building Mileage Programme
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